I May Destroy You Scene Analysis: “Picking Up Pizza”
This is a series that toes the line between beautiful and horrific, filled with scenes that are packed with tension attributed to well-crafted care for the story’s characters. Here’s a scene rife with that wonderful complexity.
Scene Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=411TA-OaCZg
Written By: Michaela Coel
Warning: If you plan to watch this show, consider the triggers within each episode (https://www.doesthedogdie.com/media/670798). The following scene depicts an abusive relationship dynamic, but no other triggers are mentioned.
Scene Context: Arabella has returned to Italy unannounced in hopes to surprise her boyfriend, Biagio, despite his apparent disinterest in her.
Scene Conflicts:
- Arabella doesn’t want to be alone.
- Biagio doesn’t want to be with Arabella.
Scene Outline:
- Arabella leaves Biagio’s apartment to go pick up the pizza she ordered for them. He asks how long she plans to say. She tells him as long as he wants her to. He offers her money for the pizza.
- Alone, Arabella pays for the pizza. Brings it with her back to Biagio’s apartment, where…
- The door is locked. Arabella knocks and calls for Biagio.
- She puts down the pizza and pushes on the door, asks if he’s okay. No answer.
- Arabella keeps talking to the door, hoping Biagio is listening. Calmly asks what she did wrong.
- Beginning to panic, Arabella apologizes for telling Biagio (in beat one) that she didn’t have plans to leave Italy. She lies and tells him she actually has a flight to leave tomorrow.
- Door still won’t open. Arabella says she left her passport in the apartment, and literally can’t leave without it.
- Wordlessly, the passport slides under the door to Arabella.
- Enraged, Arabella swears and slams at the door with plain vitriol as neighbors get concerned.
- Biagio opens the door, gun in hand. Tells Arabella to leave. She scrambles away.
Why It Works:
Redefining Protagonist’s Plan: Throughout the scene, Arabella is constantly forced to switch her tact in order to talk to Biagio. First, she’s concerned. When that fails, she’s apologetic. Then, she’s helpless. And finally, when it’s clear that Biagio can hear her and specifically refuses to say a word to her, she’s filled with rage and tries to enter with force.
Simple But Brutal: Beat 8 of the scene, when Biagio slides the passport beneath the table to Arabella, is a crucially painful moment of the scene. So much is said with this ridiculously simple action. With this, Biagio is effectively saying that yes, he’s at the door, listening to Arabella’s pitiful breakdown, yet refuses to say a word to her. It confirms her (and the audience’s) worst fear- that he doesn’t want her around. A lesser scene might’ve had this confrontation play out in an argument that ends with Biagio yelling at her to go, but by having Biagio’s entire line of action put into this simple motion, we’re allowed to perceive his character for ourselves and spend more time with the truly sympathetic character of Arabella.
Show, Don’t Tell: As Arabella comes to the slow realization of what’s occurred, she begins to entirely unravel in a way that’s horrifyingly unique. Each new tact she tries reveals another facet of her character and allows the audience to further learn about how she views herself. The fact that her first reaction isn’t rage, but apology, is huge. Her willingness to lie in hopes to have him simply say a word to her is similarly revealing. And when it’s impossible to deny that his act isn’t one of civility, but of rejection, she goes off. In just three minutes, so much about her character is revealed in a way that is entirely naturalistic. This is, in many ways, sincerely more profound, effective, and efficient than a monologue. This is the epitome of the age-old adage, “Show, don’t tell.”
Climactic Moment: This scene is ultimately the climax of Arabella’s episode arc. I’ll refrain from spoiling too much, but early in this episode, she learns of something that bothers her (and would bother anyone). She has yet to deal with that information coming into this scene, and so when she explodes into vitriol, it’s not entirely about Biagio. Sure, her anger is a reaction to his cruelty, but it’s moreso a build-up of emotion which she hasn’t allowed herself to cope with.
Gray Area: Though this scene makes Biagio appear like an outright dick, the context affords him some reasonable motivation. Arabella showed up unannounced after nine months. She literally broke into his house with a spare key, and though she had good intentions, she still blatantly violated his boundaries. So, even though Biagio’s reaction may not be the most reasonable, it’s grounded in something undeniably fair- wanting to establish your personal boundaries. By not allowing him to be an outright villain to Arabella, the show is able to continue it’s central question of: Who is hurting who?
Firm Resolution: With the final, unsettling beat of this scene, we are resolutely told that there will be no hope of a reunion between these two. Biagio is willing to threaten Arabella in order to leave, and there’s no way for the pair of them to get past this brief but terrifying image. Similarly, Biagio shows his true colors here- he doesn’t give a shit about Arabella, and is frankly offended that she wants him to.
Summary:
If you can stomach the show’s undeniably difficult subject matter, it is a show entirely worth watching. It doesn’t shy away from difficult questions and, more importantly, doesn’t provide simple answers. Each character is so beautifully complex that every decision they make is grounded in an intense and unflinching believability. By masterfully forcing characters to reveal themselves through action, Coel makes each one of her characters unforgettable, and thereby the scenes they drive similarly unforgettable.
Also, if you’re interested, here’s an interview where Michaela Coel breaks down this scene (and episode) herself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWNb6uGc748
